Arnold Schwarzenegger has increased the prize money at the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic for a Ukrainian athlete and event runner-up who intends to rejoin his country's defense efforts against the Russian military.
"You always see how sports brings everyone together," Schwarzenegger said at the podium. "You've seen here not only the strongest men in the world competing, but you also have seen a Ukrainian athlete and a Russian athlete competing in the same competition."
He went on to deliver a special message to Ukrainian strongman Oleksii Novikov, who placed second in the Classic, and who has publicly stated that any winnings he makes during the competition will go towards equipping civilians back home with much-needed body armor.
Novikov, who won the World's Strongest Man rivalry in 2020 (binds with Jón Páll Sigmarsson as the most youthful at any point champion), would have brought back home $25,000 in runner up prize cash. In the brief video above, caught by a fan, he should be visible wearing Ukraine's banner as Schwarzenegger adulates him for his expectations to get back and battle prior to uncovering that his rewards will be dramatically multiplied to $80,000. This is a similar sum as he would have gotten in the event that he had won in front of the pack, and basically a gift of $55,000 from Schwarzenegger.
"That is no joke," he said. "I simply need to let you know that I realize that you need to return to the Ukraine to battle, and to put your life in danger. What's more, you likewise, I know, need to take the greenbacks that you're making here today and give it to purchase body defensive layer, to safeguard honest individuals in the Ukraine. Thus I simply need you to know, therefore, the benevolence of you, the boldness that you show, I simply need you to realize that we will grant you not the ordinary monetary reward as the second spot champ, yet you will be granted a similar monetary reward that the victor gets, so you can give that cash for body reinforcement when you return."